Experts Okay Japanese Team's Use Of Ips Cells For Spinal Cord Injuries
NHK has learned that a third-party committee of experts has found no safety problems so far with a procedure to repair spinal cord injuries by transplanting cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells.
A team led by Okano Hideyuki and Nakamura Masaya, both professors at Keio University, performed the world's first procedure in December.
They transplanted iPS-derived nerve cells into a patient whose spinal cord had been damaged.
The team submitted data on the patient to the Independent Data Monitoring Committee.
The committee concluded on Tuesday that the patient has so far not shown any grave side effects, and gave the go-ahead for a second clinical trial.
The committee did not assess the medical effect of the transplant, as it plans to monitor this aspect over the course of one year.
The team plans to transplant iPS-derived cells into four patients. They will start accepting applications next month for their second clinical trial.